131 results about "Seamless handoff" patented technology

A method of handing off between a cellular network and a Wi-Fi network is disclosed. A cellular base station of the cellular network is caused to collect information related to the cellular network. A Wi-Fi access point of the Wi-Fi network is caused to collect information related to the Wi-Fi network, wherein the cellular base station and the Wi-Fi access point are co-located. The information related to the cellular network and the information related to the Wi-Fi network are used collectively for determining whether to handoff traffic of a user equipment from a cellular air interface of the cellular network to a Wi-Fi air interface of the Wi-Fi network, or vice versa.

Systems and methods for providing fast handoff support by transferring information are provided. Additionally, a generic protocol message format is presented which allows the transfer of information used in the handoff. The generic protocol allows a gateway to request contexts or session information and send information that allows tunnel setup and mapping to other connections. The session, tunnel, and mapping information allow the gateways to switch packet processing operations without causing disruption to the packet flow. Further, in inter-gateway handoffs or inter-access network handoffs, fast and seamless handoffs are provided so the mobile station keeps the same IP address and the session continues.

A mobile device communicates with a first mesh access point (AP) via a first radio frequency (RF) interface of the mobile device over a first wireless connection, where the first mesh AP is one of mesh APs of a first mesh cell of the wireless mesh network. It is detected that signal quality of the first wireless connection drops below a predetermined threshold as the mobile device moves from the first mesh cell towards a second mesh cell. In response to the detection, it is established via a second RF interface of the mobile device a second wireless connection with a second mesh AP of a second mesh cell of the wireless mesh network, while concurrently maintaining the first wireless connection with the first mesh AP via the first RF interface.

A method and Policy Decision Function node are provided for maintaining a multimedia session in an alive state for a mobile station following a release of a network attachment resulting from a handoff from a first Packet Data Node to a second Packet Data Node followed by a dormancy state of the mobile station. If both Packet Data Nodes are comprised into a same MultiMedia Domain, the Policy Decision Function informs an Application Function of the MultiMedia Domain that the multimedia session shall be maintained. Otherwise, if the two Packet Data Nodes are comprised into distinct MultiMedia Domains, a first Policy Decision Function, in addition to informing a first Application Function that the multimedia session shall be maintained, also fetches a context of the multimedia session. Further, the first Policy Decision Function transfers the context of the multimedia session to the first Packet Data Node, which in turn sends the context of the multimedia session to the second Packet Data Node. Subsequent to reactivation of the mobile station, a second Policy Decision Function transfers the context of the multimedia session from the second Packet Data Node to a second Application Function in a second MultiMedia Domain.

Methods and apparatus for providing a seamless switching of voice calls between different wireless networks are disclosed. In one illustrative example, a mobile communication device has a processor and one or more wireless transceivers coupled to the processor. The one or more wireless transceivers include a first transceiver portion operative in accordance with a first wireless network (e.g. a GSM / GPRS cellular network) and a second transceiver portion operative in accordance with a second wireless network (e.g. an 802.11 wireless network). A voice call is maintained between the mobile device and a communication terminal through call control equipment. The processor of the mobile device is operative to maintain voice communications for the voice call over a traffic channel established between the mobile device and the first wireless network using the first transceiver portion; cause a connecting call to be established with the communication terminal through the call control equipment in response to a predetermined condition, where the connecting call involves a traffic channel established between the second wireless network and the mobile device using the second transceiver portion; and after the connecting call is established, maintain voice communications for the voice call over the traffic channel established between the second wireless network and the mobile device.

The invention relates to a method for seamless handover of mobile devices in heterogeneous networks. A mobile device (10) is moved between different topological network locations (30 / 31 / 32 / 33) and transmits and / or receives data by means of different network access technologies without the data transfer between a Client IP application (11), running on the mobile device (10), and a Server IP application (21) being interrupted, wherein the Client IP application (11) of the mobile device (10) makes a request with first data units to a client-service module (12), wherein the client service module (12) creates second data units based on the received first data units and makes a request to a server-service module (22) with the second data units, wherein the server-service module (22) creates third data units based on the received second data units and makes a request to the Server IP application (21) with the third data units to handle the data exchange between the Client IP application (11) and the Server IP application (21).

An apparatus and method is provided for facilitating the seamless handoff of IP connections between access routers in an IP network. The mobile IP network includes two or more access routers each serving a different geographic service area. When a mobile terminal moves from the first service area to the second service area, the mobile terminal transmits to the second access router the IP address of the previous access router. The second access router uses this information to learn capabilities of the first access router (e.g., bandwidths supported, security schemes, and the like) for use in future handoff decisions, and exchanges capability information with the first access router. The assumption is made based on the exchanged information that the access routers are geographically proximate. When another mobile terminal transitions from one service area to another, the system selects an optimal target access router based on the previously learned information, including the inferred geographic proximity between access routers.

Mobile wireless device(s) roam within and between premises and a vehicle or other mobile platform and interface to wireless local area networks within the premises or vehicle. When using the intra-vehicular network, a communication relay within the vehicle routes communications from the wireless device to a wide area wireless network such as cellular network or satellite network. This allows the power consumption of the mobile wireless device to be greatly reduced as the mobile device need only communicate with the local intra-vehicular WLAN. The vehicle acts as the power supply for the relay. When the coverage area of the intra-vehicular WLAN overlaps that of another WLAN, seamless handoff allows continuous data or voice connectivity between the overlapping wireless networks.

Systems and methods to manage network access (e.g., IPv4 and IPv6) and layer 3 mobility are provided. This can allow mobility management to be moved from a mobile node's stack to the access gateway, simplifying the stack and providing fast handoffs. The mobility management at an access gateway further allows a mobile node to keep its dynamically assigned IP address for the duration of a call session and through handoffs. The placement of access gateways in a domain of trust allows security information to be passed between access gateways in a handoff so that the security associations do not need to be re-authenticated with the mobile node. One or more of the above mobility management features can be used to provide a fast and seamless handoff for a mobile node.

A wireless local area network (WLAN) includes mobile devices that are allowed to transfer wireless connections between WLAN subnets or channels having different access points. The access points connect to a central controller or roaming server that supports seamless hand-offs of mobile devices from one access point to another access point. The roaming server supports the reassignment of session data parameters from one access point to another (e.g., access point address spoofing) so that the mobile device can use the same parameters for communicating to a new access point. The roaming server also supports the seamless handoff of a mobile device from one access point to another by using a master-slave switch technique across two piconets. The roaming server also facilitates the control of access points by establishing a host controller interface and wireless protocol stack in the roaming server and another, complementary wireless protocol stack in the access point. The roaming server then encapsulates host controller commands in a packet based network protocol used for communication between the roaming server and the access points.

A browser enabled communication device capable of conducting conversations, including multiple media types, in either a real-time or a time-shifted mode, with the ability to seamlessly transition between the two modes.

Provided is a communication adapter switching method and apparatus in a system having a plurality of communication adapters. The method includes: setting the addresses of the plurality of communication adapters equal to the address of the first of the plurality of communication adapters; setting a packet filtering mode of the communication adapters other than the first communication adapter to a mode in which all packets are accepted; and switching from one of the communication adapters to another when the one communication adapter is disconnected during communication. Accordingly, seamless handoff from the wired LAN to the wireless LAN is possible, since the TCP / IP session is maintained with the same IP address.

In a telecommunications network in which a mobile handset is capable of communicating in both an IP domain and a non-IP domain, the handoff of an existing communications session between the mobile handset and a fixed user is facilitated by a handoff controller implemented in a service control point. The handoff controller implements different handoff methods depending on the status of the fixed user and the transition of the mobile user. Additionally 802.21 Media Independent Handover Function in conjunction with SIP is used to facilitate handover between IP and Non-IP points in the system.

The invention which is suitable for the network TV and the digital TV system discloses a switch method used in the live broadcasting and replaying of the digital TV and a video server, and comprises the following steps: preserving the TV program information into a series of content fragment data, and generating the auxiliary data which is corresponding to the content fragment data; receiving the command with the live broadcasting and replaying of the timing information; looking for the corresponding content fragment data and playing position according to the time information in the live broadcasting and replaying commands and the auxiliary data which is corresponding to the content fragment data, and starting to play the content fragment data from the position. The invention generates a series of content fragment data in the disk, and generates the auxiliary data which is corresponding to the content fragment data, and the video server finds out the content fragment data to be played according to the request of users and the auxiliary data, and plays the content fragment data in the manner of pre-reading and pre-handoff; then, a seamless handoff effect of the switch between the playing and the replaying of the digital TV can be achieved.

Apparatus and method for seamless handoff of a service between different types of networks. The system may include a first user equipment, a second user equipment, a first network, a second network, and an application server. The first user equipment and the second user equipment may be configured to communicate with each other initially through a first data path of the service. The first network may be configured to determine whether the first user equipment should change its access network from the first network. The second network may be configured to allocate a new bearer and a second network IP address to the first user equipment when the first network requests the first user equipment to change its access network from the first network to the second network. The application server may be configured to modify the first data path based on the second network IP address and the new bearer, to form a second data path of the service through which the first user equipment and the second user equipment communicate after handoff of the service from the first network to the second network. The first data path of the service may pass through the first network and the second data path of the service may be formed to pass through the second network.

The invention provides an algorithm for implementing global navigation satellite system (GNSS) and WIFI system seamless vertical handoff based on a fuzzy neural network algorithm in order to realize a purpose of fusing two different positioning systems mutually to implement seamless handoff of indoor and outdoor positioning and navigation. The algorithm comprises the following steps: acquisition of main positioning information, handoff triggering based on received signals, and handoff algorithm judgment based on fuzzy neural network control. The algorithm for implementing the GNSS and WIFI system seamless vertical handoff has the beneficial effect of overcoming a defect that WIFI position precision is reduced outdoor and GNSS signals have a possible of occurring interruption indoor so as to provide wrong positioning information for a user; America GPS, Russia Glonass, EU Galileo and China Beidou satellite have a large development on satellite positioning and navigation application technology positioning aspects indoor, outdoor, underground, on the earth surface and the like; and meanwhile, the algorithm provided by the invention has wide applications in the fields of national military applications, international counter terrorism, tunnel detection and the like.

A handoff method is provided in a communication network including a plurality of fixed nodes attached to a router connected to at least one external network, and at least one mobile node associated with a current fixed node. The method detects movement of a mobile node; prepares a handoff of the mobile node from a current fixed node to potential fixed nodes upon detecting movement of the mobile node; decides whether to handoff to one of the potential fixed nodes as a target fixed node; and performs the handoff from the current fixed node to the target fixed node. The handoff method enables the mobile station to quickly move its association from one access point to another by minimizing a probe delay which is a primary contributor to handoff delay.

Mobile wireless device(s) roam within and between premises and a vehicle or other mobile platform and interface to wireless local area networks within the premises or vehicle. When using the intra-vehicular network, a communication relay within the vehicle routes communications from the wireless device to a wide area wireless network such as cellular network or satellite network. This allows the power consumption of the mobile wireless device to be greatly reduced as the mobile device need only communicate with the local intra-vehicular WLAN. The vehicle acts as the power supply for the relay. When the coverage area of the intra-vehicular WLAN overlaps that of another WLAN, seamless handoff allows continuous data or voice connectivity between the overlapping wireless networks.

The present invention discloses a system and method to use powerline and wireless communications for delivery of data and voice messages over IP (Internet Protocol). In order to achieve high reliability in communication service over powerline, wireless network is used as a redundant network to switch over in case of failover. The invention provides an integrated algorithm that provides seamless switching between powerline and wireless communication methods in real time.

A method of handing off between a cellular network and a Wi-Fi network is disclosed. A cellular base station of the cellular network is caused to collect information related to the cellular network. A Wi-Fi access point of the Wi-Fi network is caused to collect information related to the Wi-Fi network, wherein the cellular base station and the Wi-Fi access point are co-located. The information related to the cellular network and the information related to the Wi-Fi network are used collectively for determining whether to handoff traffic of a user equipment from a cellular air interface of the cellular network to a Wi-Fi air interface of the Wi-Fi network, or vice versa.

The invention relates to a solution for providing a seamless handover. It is proposed to provide a first serving node (PDSN) in a first radio area and a second serving node (WSN) in a second radio area and an authentication unit being accessible by the first serving node and by the second serving node. Further it is proposed to run a delay timer for delaying a discarding of the first address by receiving a detach message from the user for detaching from the first serving node and to provide said address to the user located in the second radio area in case a handover procedure has been performed within the duration of the timer.

Persistent communication layer credentials generated on a persistent communication layer at one network may be leveraged to perform authentication on another. For example, the persistent communication layer credentials may include application-layer credentials derived on an application layer. The application-layer credentials may be used to establish authentication credentials for authenticating a mobile device for access to services at a network server. The authentication credentials may be derived from the application-layer credentials of another network to enable a seamless handoff from one network to another. The authentication credentials may be derived from the application-layer credentials using reverse bootstrapping or other key derivation functions. The mobile device and / or network entity to which the mobile device is being authenticated may enable communication of authentication information between the communication layers to enable authentication of a device using multiple communication layers.

A method and apparatus of switching among mobile television networks are provided in the present invention. By playing a service with the same content synchronously over a number of different networks, if a mobile television terminal moves from a network coverage domain to another network coverage domain during the receiving and playing of the service by the mobile television terminal, the method and apparatus can trigger the mobile television terminal to send a switch request and switch to the current network to continue the receiving and playing of the service, so that the user can get the experience of an almost seamless switching.

A method for providing a handoff in a network environment is provided that includes a mobile station operable to conduct a call. The mobile station is further operable to initiate a call leg autonomously such that a generic transfer function is invoked. The mobile station leverages the generic transfer function in order to execute a handoff for the mobile station.

The embodiment of the invention relates to a link switching method, a controller, an access point (AP) and a wireless communication system. The link switching method specifically includes the following steps: receiving switching information of a first AP and switching information of a second AP; according to the switching information of the first AP and the switching information of the second AP, judging whether a first link of a terminal correlated to the first AP is to be switched to a second link of the terminal correlated to the second AP; sending switching request information to the first AP if determining to switch the first link to the second link, so that the first AP can execute the switching from the first link to the second link according to the switching request information; after the first link is switched to the second link, updating the locally-saved correlation information of the terminal and the first AP to the correlation information of the terminal and the second AP. Therefore, the invention achieves seamless switching in a single frequency network, and avoids modifications of the terminal configuration.

A mobile device communicates with a first mesh access point (AP) via a first radio frequency (RF) interface of the mobile device over a first wireless connection, where the first mesh AP is one of mesh APs of a first mesh cell of the wireless mesh network. It is detected that signal quality of the first wireless connection drops below a predetermined threshold as the mobile device moves from the first mesh cell towards a second mesh cell. In response to the detection, it is established via a second RF interface of the mobile device a second wireless connection with a second mesh AP of a second mesh cell of the wireless mesh network, while concurrently maintaining the first wireless connection with the first mesh AP via the first RF interface.

Systems and methods for streaming media content on a user device from a wireless network of set-top cells. Set-top cells with overlapping wireless transmission ranges create a network within which a user may roam and receive continuous streaming media content. A user device may connect with a set-top cell in the network to access media content. When the user leaves the wireless transmission range of the set-top cell, a seamless handoff occurs to a second set-top cell, and the user receives continuous streaming media content. The streaming media content is uninterrupted as long as the user remains within wireless transmission range of at least one set-top cell in the network.

A method for cognitive neighbor selection in 4G networks describes a mechanism for automatic self-learning selection of neighboring base stations for the purpose of providing seamless handoffs in a dense deployment of pico and macro base stations. When a 4G network is modified by adding new base stations, the optimum handoff thresholds and advertised base station neighbors are automatically recalculated in a manner that reduces the number of unnecessary handoffs in a dense network with large number of pico and macro base stations.

A handoff method is provided in a communication network including a plurality of fixed nodes attached to a router connected to at least one external network, and at least one mobile node associated with a current fixed node. The method detects movement of a mobile node; prepares a handoff of the mobile node from a current fixed node to potential fixed nodes upon detecting movement of the mobile node; decides whether to handoff to one of the potential fixed nodes as a target fixed node; and performs the handoff from the current fixed node to the target fixed node. The handoff method enables the mobile station to quickly move its association from one access point to another by minimizing a probe delay which is a primary contributor to handoff delay.